Europe is a varied continent with plenty of different Christmastraditions. For example, some in the west of the continent maynot have heard of the Krampus - St Nicholas’ demonic assistantwho beats bad children with a stick.

　　在欧洲，不同的地区有许多不同的圣诞传统。譬如，欧洲西部的人们可能从来没有听说过坎卜斯(Krampus)——圣人尼古拉斯(圣诞老人的原型)的助手。传说顽皮的孩子会被他用棍子敲打。

　　However, one thing that everyone gets - and the Krampus can’t take away - is holiday. Everysingle country in Europe has at least one statutory day off in the period between 15 Decemberand 15 January. This includes the majority Islamic countries such as Turkey.

　　但是，有一个传统坎卜斯夺不走并且每个人都能得到，那就是节假日。欧洲的每个国家在12月25日和1月15日之间至少有一个法定节假日。这个传统也涵盖了土耳其在内的大多数伊斯兰国家。

　　Who gets the most though?

　　那么哪个国家放假最长?

　　The majority of countries in Europe are Christian, whether that is Catholic, Protestant or Orthodoxand bearing that in mind there are four key dates to look for:

　　绝大多数欧洲人都是基督徒，不管他们是天主教，新教还是东正教。他们把以下重要的四天牢记心中。

　　25 December - Catholic/Protestant Christmas Day, which is the purported anniversary of thebirth of Christ

　　1.12月25日——天主教/新教的圣诞节。圣诞节是所谓基督诞生的周年纪念日。

　　New Year’s Day - in terms of the Gregorian calendar, which every single country gets as a holiday

　　2.新年——罗马教皇格利高里日历(罗马公历)。每一个国家都在这一天放假。

　　6 January - Epiphany, when Jesus was supposed to have appeared to the Magi (or three wisemen)

　　3.1月6日——主显节。在这一天，三贤人(Magi)在耶稣生时从东方前来朝圣送礼。

　　7 January - Russian Orthodox Christmas Day

　　4.1月7日——俄罗斯东正教圣诞节

　　Around that there are several eves and and saints’ days but those four are the bedrock of theholiday season. There are secular days too, usually related to revolutions or new declarations ofstatehood that happened to fall in this time of year.

　　在这些主要的节日前后，还有一些其他的宗教节日，但是这四个节日是整个假日季的重中之重。当然也有非宗教的节日，它们通常与革命或者国家宣布独立的日子有关。

　　Russia, the home of the eastern Orthodox church, has the most days off over the Christmasperiod of any European country. Every day between New Year and the day after RussianOrthodox Christmas is a holiday, giving them eight off in total.

　　俄罗斯是东正教教会的发源地。在圣诞节期间，它是欧洲国家中拥有休假日最多的国家。从新年到俄罗斯东正教圣诞节一共八天，每一天都是节假日。

　　Closely following the Russians with seven are Armenia and Liechtenstein. The latter country getsChristmas Eve through to Boxing Day off as well as the two days either side of the New Year. Forgood measure, they also get Epiphany off - let’s call this the total Christmas holiday package.

　　休假日天数仅次于俄罗斯的国家是亚美尼亚(Armenia)和列支敦士登(Liechtenstein)，各为7天。后者从平安夜到节礼日及新年前后两天作为放假日。另外，他们还有主显节放假日——我们可以把这些假日统称为圣诞节假期。

　　Most western European countries get a similar settlement - Christmas Day, Boxing Day (or St.Stephen’s Day) and New Year’s Day with the overtly Catholic ones getting Epiphany too.

　　大多数的西欧国家都有相同的放假节日——圣诞节、节礼日(圣史蒂芬日)、新年。信仰天主教的国家还会多一个主显节。

　　However, the number of days off sometimes varies by the region you are in. For example, inGermany only Bavaria, Badem-Wittenburg and Saxony-Anhalt get Epiphany as a holiday. Similararrangements exist in Spain, France and Switzerland.

　　当然，放假天数有时也会随所在地区的不同而变化。例如，只有德国的巴伐利亚州(Bavaria)、巴德姆-威登堡州(Badem-Wittenburg)、萨克森-安哈尔特州(Saxony-Anhalt)以及西班牙、法国、瑞士把主显节作为放假日。

　　It is also the case in the UK, where Scotland gets an extra day off on 2 January, which isconsiderably more kind to the hungover.

　　同样的情况也存在于英国。英国的苏格兰地区在1月2日有额外一天的放假，这种安排照顾到了那些因节日狂欢宿醉的人们。

　　Looking at the worldwide picture then the US and Canada fare pretty badly, with only two nationalstatutory holidays apiece. This is the same number of days as Japan, which does not haveChristmas as a day off but does for some reason celebrate the day by eating fried chicken.

　　横观世界各国，美国和加拿大两国的圣诞节放假天数少得可怜，两个国家都只有两天的国家法定节假日。此外，日本也同样只放两天假。虽然日本在圣诞节当天不放假，但是却有在这一天吃炸鸡以示庆祝的传统。